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The mornings have all been fairly different here since we arrived early last Saturday .. sunny skies and warm, partly sunny and cool, cloudy and overcast ..

But the one thing that remains constant it seems here in South Dakota ..

The wind.

I had never thought much about how windy it is until this week, where for starters .. we have had a lot more time to hang out. Usually we are passing through on our way further west. Or here for all of about 36 hours, turning around and heading back home.

But each morning, when I look out the window, all I can tell for certain, is that it is windy.

And .. that .. if I leave my clothes on the line .. they may not be there when we I go to check on them again.

………..

It is relatively flat, this side of the state. So there’s not much to stop the wind from gaining momentum and swirling around every corner, every tree, every building. Watching the grass on days like today is mesmerizing. The wind almost appears to make everything dance. So, it’s beautiful on some respects.

It’s just, so windy.

Windy enough that I had no idea how sunburned I was getting the other day because everything still felt cool. Until I came in out of the sun ..

Apparently there are significantly more wind farms in South Dakota today than there were at the time this piece was done. The Cowboy says one of the biggest wind farms in the state is actually not far north of the ranch.

All I know at the moment .. is that I need to keep my hat cinched tighter when we’re out riding. That the resistence training on my runs is au natural. And while it has quickly helped to dry many a load of laundry, saving us from running the dryer .. we need to run the wash again. Because that white clump out in the middle of the neighbors field indeed is one of my favorite shirts that blew away.

It’s late .. I’m still up. And I know once my feet hit the floor in the morning, I will be on the run. So.. I’m going to just knock this out tonight. Today. This morning. Whatever you want to call it. It’s 2:40 a.m. and while I was wiped out around 10 p.m., I missed my window.

But because my brain may not be functioning at ‘full-well-rested’ mode, I admit I’m going to slack this Monday.

Not just because I want to or need to .. but because after all this talk about the rodeo, I thought it interesting that as I was listening one morning last week to NPR, a promo came on for a piece All Things Considered was doing.

(NPR as in National Public Radio .. not to be confused, which could be easy at first glance, with NFR.)

It caught my attention.

And because I haven’t had a chance to hear it yet, I thought I’d search for it and at the same time, share my find …

………….

My parents, from what I recall, didn’t listen to much NPR at all as we were growing up. I’m not sure my dad does now. Many of my friends don’t .. while others are avid followers of anything and everything NPR. They live, breathe and devour all of the programming they possibly can.

And, there’s a lot to digest, regardless of how you feel about the venue. I hear people complain all the time how ‘too far to the left’ NPR’s programs are. But it makes me smile that the person who really introduced me to it and loved to listen, is one of the most staunch republicans I know.

… Pass along for the likes of perhaps, my daughter, who is excited to someday do something besides ride/walk her horse around in circles inside of a barn. For the person who knows nothing about the rodeo and is just curious to learn .. or for those of you who just appreciate a good story about anything.